i'm new to cam inspection so not entirely sure what i'm looking for. after seeing the pitting in this lifter it got me worrying about my cam so i took a little closer of a look... cut open the motors third oil filter and there is slight amount of small metal particles, seems like about 3 flecks per crevice. looked at each high part of the lobe which doesn't appear pitted but also doesn't seem to have smooth wear around the entire area, then seems rough where it isn't smooth. guess i'm hoping if the cam is toast i caught it before i'll need a complete rebuild. any help would be greatly appreciated

filter cut open

cam lobe

more lobes

another

How old is the cam? The lifter looks like its got 100,000 miles on it, the cam in the picture looks blue. If it is change out with a new cam and lifters. Make sure that the lifters turn freely in the lifter bores. Use only oil on the sides of the lifters and assembly lube on the cam and lifter face .

just looks like a high mileage cam and lifters to me. doesn't look broke.

I get the impression the OP doesn't know, or hasn't remembered, that lifters do not ride square on the lobe. The lobe is ground at a slight angle looking at it from the side and the lifter rides on the high side of the lobe. This promotes lifter rotation and minimizes wear.

IOW, the wear on the lifter bottom should be circular with the center not worn and the lobe should look worn off center (that's the high side of the lobe.

Your stuff looks normal. Your lifter should not have a flat bottom, it should be slightly domed and if you put two lifters together, bottom to bottom you should see the dome and they should rock, if not they are too worn.

None of the above is relevant to roller lifters and cams, just flat tappet stuff.

thanks for the responses all

oh deem that's scary... the cam and lifters only have about 200 miles on them??? this was a rebuilt motor that sat for years before break-in. had a friend told me to just prime it and break it in, had a feeling we should have torn it apart for re-lube how can i tell if a cam is blue?

still a bit of a newbie in the whole cam lifter but thought there was a raised portion on the lifter and cam... was worried about that pitting in the center being the area that made contact with the cam but now i see the worn circular area around the pitting. i did purchase new lifters after not being able to adjust ticking out. although after some responses questioning whether it was lifter problems in the first place, thought i should look into the cam area incase it was on it's way out and catch it before needing an entire rebuild.

but wow a 200 mile cam/lifter setup looking like it has 100k miles on it can't be good. will the cam fall apart with the new lifters?

in my opinion that isn't a 200 mile cam/tappets. looks like a used cam in a rebuild. I wouldn't put new tappets on that old cam. replace it all, cam/lifters, or do nothing. those parts have been mated in for many miles. tappets will show some pits with miles.

thanks for the info wow the builder charged me for new lifters and cam, even supplied the cam card. now i'm worried what else he charged me for and didn't replace. with the ticking in the valve train i guess the best bet is to go with the new lifters and cam? oh and is that an excessive level of metal in the oil filter?

The blueing on that one cam lobe is something I haven't seen before. Does it cause anyone else concern? The lifters are typical of today's crap with the casting pits.

I think the die is cast on this combo; if it is gonna die, is is far enough along that not much will save it. But it is hard to tell at this point if it is gonna live or not.

A suggestion here though; take a white marker and mark the top lip of each lifter and replace each one back where it came from. Install the push rods and rockers. Then spin the engine over and watch the lifters to make sure they ALL rotate at least some. Any one that does not rotate, will not live long.

If one isn't rotating you won't have that circular wear pattern on the bottom.

Agreed, but we haven't seen all 16 lifters or lobes. It was just a suggestion to the OP for a little extra piece of mind. And if someone had done that to begin with, he might not have the questions that he has now.

True, he also needs to make sure the existing lifters all have that dome I mentioned, if nay don't they will fail shortly.

Cam looks like crap. Can I ask you why you didn't clean up the cast around those openings? I always debur all of my engines when they are apart. An old engine builder says it free up horsepower and the oil flows way better. Seems to work for me.